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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23513503">Dogs to the rescue</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/mysonny'>mysonny (orphan_account)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Of dogs and home [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Women's Soccer RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bagel Bongo Sonnett and Sir Ferguson Horan make appearances!, Established Relationship, F/F, trade</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 13:20:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,186</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23513503</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/mysonny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lindsey and Emily try to deal with some changes in their life. Maybe a dog can help. Or two?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lindsey Horan/Emily Sonnett</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Of dogs and home [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703281</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dogs to the rescue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>There has been a significant lack of Soran stories the last few days/weeks. We can't have that, can we?<br/>Well, I wanted to write a short and cute story about Lindsey and Emily and their dogs. It ended up being neither short nor only cute.<br/>Hope you enjoy anyway!</p><p>As always, English isn't my first language, bear with me. :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Emily had talked about wanting to get a dog for as long as Lindsey has known her.</p><p>During the last couple of months, the hypothetical wish for some point in the future turned more into a plan for all but right now.</p><p>Lindsey is a bit more apprehensive about it, after all they have to go out of town quite often and together most of the time. A dog certainly couldn’t come with them to camps or even on the road with the Thorns. As much as she wants her girlfriend to have a dog, someone needs to be practical about it.</p><p>They haven’t moved in together yet but since they both live in apartments provided by their club it wouldn’t be complicated for them to get out of their leases and find a bigger apartment together. Lindsey thinks that eight months of being together and surviving the close proximity with a bunch of other people during a World Cup is enough to prove that they’re ready to share an apartment. Plus, they are always at each other’s apartments anyway. She can’t remember when they’ve last slept in different beds while in Portland. Away games and camps were always a little different, they don’t get roomed together anymore. Emily would still sometimes sneak into her bed though.</p><p>So, she is ready to ask Emily to take the next step and move in together after they get back from January camp and the Olympic qualifying. She wants both of them to concentrate on that first without having to think about finding a new apartment and moving.</p><p>Lindsey figures that it might also give them the opportunity to think about that dog again. She still thinks their schedules make it hard to have a dog but Emily had already asked a couple of their friends if they would – maybe, eventually – look after their pet if they got one. She even went as far as looking for professional pet-care places in their area. And if Emily wants a dog, Lindsey wants a dog.</p><p>She can already see them in their apartment that Emily decorated to look like it came right out of one of those hipster-interior-design-Instagram channels or Pinterest-boards. With a bunch of succulents, hanging herbs in the kitchen, maybe a brick wall in the living room, and definitely with some exposed metal piping, colored black, somewhere. The probably hyper puppy will run between the rooms, Emily hot on their tail, Lindsey filming them to have a video to send to their friends.</p><p>It sounds pretty perfect to her.</p><p>-</p><p>She doesn’t even get the chance to talk to Emily about moving before someone interferes with her plans. And out of all people that have any impact on their lives it’s their coach.</p><p>Mark calls Emily while she is on campus at UVA visiting with some of her college friends. Their plan is to meet up a couple of days later in Emily’s hometown, celebrate thanksgiving and her birthday with her family, before going back to Portland. And then they’ll spend Christmas with Lindsey’s family in Colorado and go to January camp from there.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Em, what’s up? I saw that big ass pizza you sent, did you eat it all by yourself?” Lindsey laughs as she takes a call from Emily a day before she is set to get to Georgia to her parent’s house. It is a bit odd for her to be calling in the middle of the day, she usually calls during the late evening eastern time to catch Lindsey before she goes to bed.</p><p>“ – “</p><p>Lindsey sits up on her couch. She immediately gets a bad feeling when she only hears her girlfriend taking shaky and quick breaths but no actual words on the other end. She recognizes the panic attack that Emily seems to be having. She hadn’t had one in quite some time now.</p><p>“Babe? Emily?”</p><p>“Linds, I– Mark… called and–“ Emily is breathing rapidly and doesn’t seem to be in shape to talk. Lindsey texts Moe to find Emily and be there in person. She’s very thankful that Moe is there this weekend as well. Moe had known Emily for longer and had been the friend to help her through panic attacks in college. Lindsey hopes that Moe gets there soon.</p><p>“Em. Emmy, I’m here. Can you sit down somewhere around you?” she tries to stay as calm as possible for Emily.</p><p>“Yeah– I think… I think there’s a bench somewhere.” Her voice cracks.</p><p>“Okay, how about you go there?” Lindsey suggests. She knows from previous attacks she had experienced as Emily’s friend that she needed the feeling of sitting on something to literally ground her. She would also probably need to talk. That part was always tricky for Lindsey to figure out, often Emily needed to be talking herself while on some occasions she needed someone to tell her something completely unrelated.</p><p>Lindsey waits to hear a confirmative grunt from the other end before she continues. She doesn’t want to overwhelm Emily further by asking too much of her.</p><p>“Can you mimic my breathing for a second? In– and out.” She breathes extra loud and deep in her phone. She can hear as Emily’s breathing calms down a bit after a while.</p><p>“Okay, you’re doing good baby. Do you want to describe what you see on your way to the bench?”</p><p>“Yeah, okay– I think I can do that. Uhm, I am on campus right now. Right outside the stadium, we were meeting there with everyone. I’m almost on the wide lawn in front of Miller Center. You know the picture I sent earlier? With me on the steps.”</p><p>“You mean the one with the impressive stairwell and the columns, right?” Lindsey softly asks to keep Emily talking and occupied.</p><p>“That one. I can see it from where I’m walking. I’m looking for the bench that has the best view of the building. I always liked the structure. I used to draw it from time to time, that helped me to relax during midterms and finals.”</p><p>“Not that I would know anything about midterms or finals in college.” Lindsey takes a little dig at herself. It has the intended effect when she hears Emily snorting.</p><p>“Exactly. I’m at the bench and sitting down now, by the way. It is almost as I remember it. Could use a little color though– Oh! I can still feel the little ‘E’ I carved underside.”</p><p>“When did you do that?” Lindsey gets a text from Moe that tells her she can see Emily sitting on the bench.</p><p>“Well… I’m not completely sure anymore. Maybe in my sophomore year? It was definitely during the summer though.” Lindsey can hear Moe calling out for Emily now.</p><p>“Hey, Moe is here. Can I– I think I’m ready now. Can I maybe tell the both of you?” Lindsey hears them talking for a bit, Moe asks Emily if she can sit down with her and to hold her hand. A gesture that always helps Emily to calm down.</p><p>Emily puts her on speaker while she’s getting ready to talk.</p><p>“So. Mark called,” Emily takes a deep, but shaky, breath “they are in negotiations to finally get Becky to Portland. Which is good, we all want that for her.” Lindsey is wondering where this is going, it was common knowledge that Becky wanted to play in Portland to be with Zola. She knows not to interrupt Emily to ask though.</p><p>“Mark also wants some change up top, he wants Sophia Smith from Stanford. He’s going to that identification camp Vlatko is doing to have a look at her. He said he wants to be as transparent as possible about what’s going on with the people it is affecting. Anyway, his– his eventual plan is to get the first overall draft pick from Orlando by trading me there since he’ll have Becky as a center back and doesn’t need me anymore.”</p><p>“Oh.” is all Lindsey is able to say. She knows she should say something else, she needs to be strong for Emily. But she feels like she’s in a fishbowl, her senses seem to shut down.</p><p>She opens her mouth to say something but nothing comes out.</p><p>She tries to take deep breaths but doesn’t feel the air filling her lungs.</p><p>She can faintly hear Moe consoling her girlfriend about the possible trade. She can’t make out what they are saying exactly.</p><p>She can still see her living room but her vision gets blurry on the edges. She blinks a couple of times to get it back to normal.</p><p>„Linds? Are you still there?” Emily snaps her out of her stupor.</p><p>“Yes, I got into my head. Sorry. When do we know? Uhm, I mean– did he say when he’ll make the final decision?” When Emily doesn’t answer immediately Lindsey’s head goes into overdrive.</p><p>“I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer. We don’t have to talk about this right now, we can talk about something else if you want to.”</p><p>“I think, I’d like that.” Emily’s voice sounds small. After encouragement from both Lindsey and Moe, she starts to talk about their weekend and what they have planned for the afternoon.</p><p>Lindsey pushes her laptop open while listening.</p><p>She first messages Emma to ask her if she can come over a couple of days early without telling her too much of what’s going on. She doesn’t have enough details for that and doesn’t want to take it away from Emily anyway.</p><p>After getting the confirmation from Emma she searches for a flight from Portland to Atlanta the next day. Moe and Emily had decided to drive to UVA and back, making a stop in Cary to visit Sam on their way. They’re going to drive to Sam’s that evening, stay the night and then they’ll make the longer drive to Atlanta the next day. Lindsey herself was supposed to arrive in Georgia in five days to give Emily some time with her family.</p><p>She knows Emily and herself though. They both need to talk about the situation with each other. They won’t talk about it on the phone being thousands of miles away. It’s doing neither Emily nor her any good to be in different places right now.</p><p>She finds a flight that arrives in Georgia in the early afternoon of the next day, she’ll be there sooner than Emily herself.</p><p>-</p><p>Emma picks her up from the airport. She tells her and Emily’s parents that something came up and that Emily would surely tell them when the time came which they all understand.</p><p>When Emily gets to Marietta in the early evening, Lindsey all but runs outside to greet her girlfriend who launches herself at Lindsey as soon as she sees her, wrapping her legs around her.</p><p>“You’re here, you’re supposed to come in like five days.” Emily says while still holding onto Lindsey.</p><p>“Of course, I am here.” Lindsey whispers into her ear.</p><p> </p><p>They have dinner with Emily’s family and Emily tells everyone about the great weekend she had. No words about Mark, Portland, or a possible trade.</p><p> </p><p>Lindsey retreats to Emily’s room a little earlier than her girlfriend who is deep in conversation with her Dad.</p><p>She must’ve dozed off because she awakes to the now dimmed room when Emily is just getting into bed.</p><p>“Hi baby,” she mumbles sleepily.</p><p>“Hey,” Emily whispers “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up.”</p><p>“’s okay. Didn’t wake me. Come here.”</p><p>Emily snuggles into her opened arms and lets out a content sigh. Lindsey can feel the tension leaving her girlfriend’s body as she relaxes into her arms more and more. She tightens her hold on Emily and breathes her in. She notices that Emily feels so, so small in her arms right now. The bedside lamp is still lit while they lay like that for a while, both not going to sleep but rather enjoying each other’s presence. Lindsey decides to break the silence.</p><p>“Are we going to talk about it? Or are we tabling this conversation until there is a decision?”</p><p>Emily sighs before turning a bit so that she is laying on her back, staring at the ceiling.</p><p>“I don’t know. I don’t know what to think or to say. To say to you. The decision is not in our hands. I think at this point it’s not a matter of ‘if’ I get traded but ‘when’. And– are we ready to talk about that?”</p><p>Lindsey feels much more awake now, listening intently. She props herself up on one arm to be able to look at her girlfriend. She then takes Emily’s hand with her other hand and laces their fingers together, hoping to soothe her. She needs to show her support somehow and to feel Emily.</p><p>“I think I’m scared. I– we always knew about the possibility of a trade, it’s part of our job. But to think about–“</p><p>Emily takes a deep breath, struggling with getting her thoughts out “To think about playing anywhere else than Portland and to do it by myself scares me.” She turns her head to look at Lindsey for a second.</p><p>“I know that I wouldn’t be alone, I’d have teammates and all. But I would – I will – do it without you.”</p><p>“You’ll never do anything without me, babe. I won’t be in Orlando but you’re not going to lose me because you have to move for our job. I’m not going to lie to you, and say it’ll be easy. Cause it won’t be. It will be hard for the both of us because it’s different and we need to adjust. But others do it and we can do it, too.”</p><p>Lindsey leans over and takes Emily’s chin in her hand. She tips it over so she can look her in the eyes. She hopes that her words got through to Emily. She gives her a soft peck first before kissing her again, deeper this time. Lindsey wills the kiss to take away all their worries. For the night, at least.</p><p>-</p><p>Three days later, Emily wakes up to an empty and already cold bed even though Lindsey usually never wakes up before her.</p><p>She takes a shower and goes down to the kitchen where she finds Lindsey, dressed and ready for the day, talking with her Mom about their birthday plans.</p><p>Emily comes up behind her girlfriend, presses a soft kiss to her cheek and fixes herself a cup of coffee.</p><p>“When you’re done with breakfast, get dressed, we’re going out.”</p><p>“We are?” Emily looks at her Mom questioningly but she just shakes her head “Who is ‘we’? And where are we going?”</p><p>“Us. You and me. Emily and Lindsey. Dasani and Linessi. Do I have to spell it out for you?” she can hear Emma laughing in the living room, her Mom biting back a grin as well.</p><p>“Haha,” she deadpans “very funny. Do I get to know where we are going at least?”</p><p>“Nope.” Lindsey winks at her, gets up, and joins her sister on the couch.</p><p>“Not fair!” she shouts after her and then turns to her Mom, pointing accusingly at her “You all know, don’t you?”</p><p>“Maybe.”</p><p> </p><p>Lindsey’s multi-tasking, trying to navigate her clueless girlfriend around while also being in charge of the music.</p><p>Emily can’t figure out where they are going even though they are in her home-town. It’s driving her crazy. She had asked Lindsey multiple questions without getting an answer out of her. Lindsey had proceeded to take a video of her muttering under her breath about the possible locations they were going to. She had then sent it to Emma and their group chat with a few of their friends – much to the delight of Rose and Sam who were now surely planning on how to use the video against Emily.</p><p>Lindsey gets a bit anxious as they pull up to their destination.</p><p>“The animal shelter?” Emily turned to her, wide-eyed, a grin forming on her face.</p><p>“I thought we could get you that dog you’ve been wanting for your birthday. Now, I know you are not supposed to give a pet as a present but since you want a dog anyway and know how to care for one I thought it would be okay?” she explains hesitantly.</p><p>“Linds… it’s a great idea! I love it.” Emily is full on grinning over at her.</p><p>“But what made you change your mind? You always said, we were too busy for a dog?”</p><p>“Well I had already changed my mind before but then with everything that’s going on– I thought you’d like a companion for– you know, when we don’t live in the same city anymore.” Lindsey explains carefully, not looking at Emily.</p><p>She didn’t want to be overbearing and intrusive, she just wants Emily to know that she’s not alone. Literally and otherwise.</p><p>“Babe, I–“ Emily struggles with getting her words out, eventually she decides to just lean over and kiss her deeply.</p><p> </p><p>When they get inside, Lindsey lets Emily take the lead. They are looking for her dog after all.</p><p>She watches as Emily bounces in-between rooms, trying to get a look at every single dog there is, petting all the dogs that let her on her quest to find ‘the one’.</p><p>Because “I need to give everyone a chance, Lindsey. Obviously.”</p><p>Just like Lindsey thought beforehand, Emily ends up with a couple of smaller puppies, sitting on the floor, surrounded by them. They all try to get her attention at once.</p><p>“Can we take all of them?” she pouts at Lindsey. Lindsey sits down next to Emily and joins her in petting and cuddling with the puppies.</p><p>“You wish. Who do you like?”</p><p>“Well, over there is the black–“</p><p>“Never mind,” Lindsey interrupts her, looking in the other direction “I’ve found the perfect one for you.”</p><p>She looks at a puppy who was playing with another one just a minute ago. The dog seems to have stopped now and carefully watches their conversation unfold with a cocked head.</p><p>What really gets Lindsey is how the grey dog with brown and white speckles looks up at her.</p><p>All squinty, sleepy eyes and a somewhat pensive look on her face.</p><p>“Look at this one, she looks just like you, Em!” she laughs.</p><p>Emily reaches out for the puppy who comes over immediately, snuggling up to her and nudging her hand with her nose.</p><p>“She’s perfect,” Emily is instantly smitten by the dog “Linds, we’re taking her.”</p><p>-</p><p>“You named her what?” Rose laughs over facetime. Emily has their new puppy on her lap while Lindsey holds her phone. Rose had demanded that her dog Wilma gets to meet her new cousin right after they got home from the shelter.</p><p>Lindsey groans. “Yes, we named her Bagel Bongo. Since she’s technically Em’s dog, she got naming rights. I want that on the record! This wasn’t my decision, I was overruled!”</p><p>“This is gold! In all honesty though, she’s really cute.” Rose coos at Bagel through the phone. Bagel doesn’t understand the concept of phone screens yet and tries to bop Rose with her nose.</p><p>“And Linds, you were right she does look like Sonny actually.”</p><p>“Why, Rose, are you calling me cute?”</p><p>“You better not be hitting on my girlfriend, Lavelle!”</p><p>-</p><p>Emily gets the second call from Mark half-way through December.</p><p>She’s over at Lindsey’s apartment, she had given up on spending time in her own after Thanksgiving. A lot of her clothes already had been at Lindsey’s for months now and there really is no point in spending time apart.</p><p>Lindsey is out with Tobin while she takes Bagel on a walk. Afterwards, when Emily is cooking up a small lunch for them, it’s Bagel, like always, who’s the first to know that Lindsey is about to get back. She greets her very excitedly at the door, her whole body shaking from waggling her tail so much. She’s still very young and small but not as shy as she was at first. Lindsey is convinced that Bagel will be as much of a troublemaker as Emily is, after all she looks just like her.</p><p>Lindsey doesn’t really register the ringing of Emily’s phone, too into the game of catch she’s playing with Bagel in the entryway after lunch. She has a little plush ball that she’s juggling while Bagel jumps up and down, trying to get the ball off Lindsey’s feet. One of Emily’s calmer playlists is playing in the background so she can hear that Emily is talking but not what she is saying. She is not really trying to listen to the conversation anyway.</p><p>What finally pokes her interest is when she doesn’t hear Emily talking anymore but her girlfriend doesn’t join their playing. She stops her game, ignores a whining Bagel, and listens for any sounds besides the music.</p><p>“Em?” she calls out. Slowly, she makes her way through the living room and into the hall that ends in the bedroom. When she turns the corner, she sees Emily standing there, phone still in hand.</p><p>Emily looks very small in the already oversized PSG sweater all of a sudden. She looks at Lindsey with big eyes. Tears threatening to spill over.</p><p>“That was Mark, it’s all set.”</p><p>Lindsey hurries the last two steps over to her girlfriend and takes her in her arms. Emily stays stiff at first, arms by her side. It takes her a moment but eventually, she gives in and reciprocates the hug. Lindsey can feel Emily shaking in her arms, silently crying in her shoulder. She walks them over to the bedroom to lay down, find some comfort.</p><p>She pulls Emily down with her so that she’s lying on her back, Emily on top of her. Emily’s head rests on the crook of her neck, she’s still crying as Lindsey strokes her back and tries to calm her down. She doesn’t really know if there is anything she can say that would help so she relies on touch for the moment.</p><p>After a while, Lindsey feels her girlfriend nestling up against her some more. Her breath is still a bit shaky and she lets out small sobs from time to time but she has stopped crying.</p><p>Lindsey hears the little clicking sounds Bagel makes on the floor when she runs through the apartment before she sees her over the edge of the bed. Bagel curiously cocks her head at Lindsey and watches them intently. Usually Bagel is not allowed on the bed and she wouldn’t interfere with Emily’s strict training but she decides the situation calls for an exception.</p><p>She pats the bed besides her and Bagel, who doesn’t need to be told twice, immediately jumps up and lands on the bed.</p><p>Emily still has her eyes closed and apparently hasn’t noticed the dog yet. Bagel, not used to being ignored by her biggest fan, waddles her way over on the wobbly surface of the mattress and nudges Emily’s face with her nose. Emily squeals at the cold, unexpected sensation on her cheek.</p><p>With no real chance to react further, Emily then gets her face licked by the little puppy. Lindsey gets attacked with Bagel’s affection as well when Bagel clumsily jumps on top of her. Emily and her both automatically hold the puppy in place so that all three of them are cuddled up together on their bed.</p><p>“We’ll never get her to stay off the bed now.” Emily softly laughs into Lindsey’s neck.</p><p>“Worth it.”</p><p>-</p><p>After January camp and Olympic qualifying they decide to stay in Emily’s apartment for a while to pack it up for her move to Orlando.</p><p>The whole time, Emily seems tense and on edge. Lindsey had noticed that already during camp but thought it was the pressure to perform during the tournament and show Vlatko that she belongs on the Olympic roster. And there always is a certain healthy tension in the air during any National Team camp. A needed tension.</p><p>The tension Emily lets off now is far from healthy or needed. Lindsey figures she’ll just give her girlfriend some space to figure it out. Her situation is not easy right now, some tension is to be expected. If she needs to talk she usually figures it out on her own for a few days and then comes to Lindsey with whatever is bothering her.</p><p>So, they pack up Emily’s stuff. They take their time, doing a little bit each day while still staying fit, playing with Bagel, and hanging out with friends so that Emily can say goodbye to each one of them.</p><p>They have a couple of days left before they head over to Florida. They are set to go a few days early to get some stuff done in Emily’s new apartment before the camp for the She Believes Cup starts. Which is why Lindsey is currently wrapping a couple of frames in Emily’s living room that are among the last few items they need to pack.</p><p>“Linds, where is my grey cap?” Emily asks as she all but storms in “You know, the Atlanta United one?”</p><p>“In one of those three boxes over there,” she gestures to some boxes on her right “that’s where all your clothes are.” She shuffles over to the boxes.</p><p>“If I had a look at the first few items in each box, I could probably remember, where I–“</p><p>“Don’t! Why did you put it away? I need it!” Emily roars, she looks more stressed by the second “I need it right now!”</p><p>“Uhm, what? I put it away because you put it on the pile with stuff you want in Orlando and–“</p><p>“I <em>don't</em> need you all up in my business! Now nothing is where it’s supposed to be!” Emily interrupts her again, angry red spots all over her face and neck “In fact, let me do this by myself.”</p><p>Emily rips the tape and bubble wrap out of Lindsey’s hands which causes Lindsey to take a few steps back and raise her hands in an appeasing manor. She sighs and runs a hand through her hair, trying to stay calm.</p><p>“Emily… what’s going on? Why do you need that cap all of a sudden, why is this such a big deal?”</p><p>“I just need it okay?! Let me do my thing. Without questioning my every move.”</p><p>“I– what? I don’t question your every move!” Lindsey can’t help it, she gets frustrated and mad now. She doesn’t understand how a stupid cap could escalate a situation so quickly.</p><p>“You’re making no sense! Where is this problem with the cap coming from?” Exasperated, Lindsey reopens the first box to start searching for the cap. Emily claps the lid shut on Lindsey’s hand.</p><p>“I don’t need your help with this!” she angrily looks at her girlfriend “Let me do this by myself!”</p><p>“But <em>why</em>? For fuck’s sake, why do you need to do this by yourself? Or at all?”</p><p>Emily doesn’t answer. She blankly stares at Lindsey before she whips around and starts rewrapping the frames that Lindsey already wrapped.</p><p>“Are you serious right now? Now you’re not talking to me anymore? And I already wrapped those frames!” Emily only shrugs and continues with her task, not looking at Lindsey.</p><p>“Look at me! What is happening? You’ve been tense for days, what is this?”</p><p>“Just leave it, okay? Let me do my stuff! Leave me alone, don’t try to do everything and mess it up! And don’t analyze me!</p><p>“Is that what you think? That I’m messing everything up?” after not getting any reaction out of Emily, she turns.</p><p>“I’m taking Bagel on a walk.”</p><p>“Good. Leave me alone.” Emily calls after her. “Need to get used to that anyway.” She mumbles to herself.</p><p>Lindsey hears her anyway and hesitates. That sounds like a much deeper problem than she anticipated. Which still doesn’t give Emily the right to behave the way she is or treat Lindsey like she did. It makes it a little more understandable though. She turns around and looks at Emily.</p><p>“Is that why you’re pushing me away? Picking an unnecessary fight?” Lindsey asks, a lot quieter now “Because we’ll be apart? Did you somehow think that would make it easier? Were you trying to make me break up with you or something stupid like that?”</p><p>Emily doesn’t answer her. She just stares blankly at the wall behind Lindsey.</p><p>“Emily, look at me,” Lindsey demands and waits until Emily looks into her eyes before continuing.</p><p>“I believe in us but I need you to believe in us, too.”</p><p>-</p><p>Lindsey gets back from her walk two hours later. The apartment looks spotless now and she can smell food from the hallway. Bagel excitedly leaves her at the door and runs into the apartment, presumably to greet Emily.</p><p>Emily sits with her back on the wall of her empty living room, take-out from around the corner in front of her. She’s cuddling with Bagel but looks up at Lindsey sheepishly when she enters the room.</p><p>“Hi,” Emily says “do you want to sit down? I’ve got some Panang Curry for us. And then we can maybe talk?”</p><p>Lindsey sits down and takes some food. “Talk.” She gestures for Emily to take the lead.</p><p>“Well, I thought about what you said and what I said – yelled – and I think the last week or so made the trade and move much more real. And I didn’t deal with it.” She rubs the back of her neck.</p><p>“Clearly” Lindsey mutters under hear breath.</p><p>“Before we started to pack up my stuff the trade was always a faraway thing I could push away. But packing made it real, I guess. I wasn’t really thinking earlier. I was, or honestly am, mad at the situation in general. And you were there, so I took it out on you. You probably were also right about the ‘picking an unnecessary fight’ thing.” Lindsey raises her eyebrows at that.</p><p>“If you were mad at me or hurt or whatever, I figured the goodbye would be easier.”</p><p>“You realize that makes no sense, right?” Lindsey looks at Emily incredulously. But she holds out her hand for Emily to take, to give them both some comfort. “That is one of the stupidest things I have heard.” Lindsey squeezes Emily’s hand.</p><p>“Em, I know that you’re scared and I am, too. But you need to talk to me about these things. Especially if we’ll be in a long-distance relationship. Communication is key. And I know that you bottle stuff up sometimes but you can’t blindside me like that. We can deal with these things but we got to talk for it to work out.”</p><p>“I know, I’ll try. I just need some time.” Emily mumbles and lays her head on Lindsey’s shoulder.</p><p>-</p><p>They had made fun of Rose facetiming Wilma during camp again and again. Now, Lindsey and Emily are laying on Emily’s bed in their hotel room, facetiming Bagel who is with Emily’s parents at the moment.</p><p>“I can’t believe you guys,” Sam shakes her head at them “Both of you instantly turned into dog-moms as soon as you got her.”</p><p>“I know, it’s great!” Rose says “Finally you can all see that I’m not crazy, dogs just make you do that!”</p><p>“Awww, look at her” Emily exclaims without paying her friends any mind “Babe, did you see how much better she’s gotten with fetching?”</p><p>“Em, I’m literally looking at the same screen as you.” Lindsey rolls her eyes before concentrating on the phone again and praising Bagel for fetching the ball that Emily’s Dad had thrown for her.</p><p>-</p><p>Lindsey is excited to finally start pre-season with her team. The national team is great but she does like the regularity of an NWSL season. Going to practice almost every day and then having a game most weekends. She knew she would have to adjust quite a bit with her girlfriend gone but she didn’t anticipate how different her daily routine would feel.</p><p>For example, her apartment feels empty and too big. There still is the dog-bed they had gotten for Bagel in the corner, some toys clattered around it.</p><p>The first night she is back, she facetimes Emily while she’s having dinner. It’s actually Bagel who answers the phone, Emily talking in a high-pitched voice behind her to tell Lindsey about their day. According to Bagel, they went on a nice walk after getting to the new apartment and she found some great new peeing-spots and even a small branch she could carry around. Lindsey obviously is enamored by the stories the dog is telling. And when Emily starts to move her legs around in the air to accompany the stories she can’t help but laugh at her girlfriend, their dog, and their silliness.</p><p>“Did we really turn into those people?” she asks Emily after laughing especially hard because in the midst of telling a story, Bagel had been fed up, turned around in Emily’s lap, licked her face, and jumped off.</p><p>“I guess we have. Can you blame us though? She’s so cuuuute!” Emily pouts through the camera.</p><p>“I miss both of you.” Lindsey states softly “The apartment is so empty now. And quiet.”</p><p>“Baby,” Emily sighs “we miss you, too. I especially could use some cuddles right now.”</p><p>-</p><p>The first week of being back goes on like this. Lindsey usually calls or facetimes Emily during the evening to say goodnight to her girlfriend who is three hours ahead of her. Sometimes Bagel joins in on those conversations and Emily and the dog show Lindsey a new trick they’ve practiced. Lindsey realizes how good of a decision it was for Emily to get Bagel and have her by her side after the move. She thinks the separation is easier on her girlfriend, now that Emily has company with the young dog who is eager to learn and thus spends hours with Emily trying to teach her things. Keeping them both occupied after soccer practice ends. But Lindsey had gotten used to having a dog around as well and she misses that. Emily seems to think along the same lines, because one day she surprises her with a suggestion. “Maybe you should get a dog as well.”</p><p>Lindsey laughs at first “Wait, you’re serious? Who would care for them when I’m on the road?”</p><p>“Linds, you do remember that I looked all of those people up in Portland, right? And that we have friends outside of the team who would be happy to watch a dog for a couple of days. For longer camps, I’m pretty sure your parents wouldn’t mind taking care of a dog.”</p><p>“But I only ever wanted a dog because you wanted one…”</p><p>“Well, I think that was maybe true at first, but I know you fell in love with Bagel and now miss her. And I know from experience that a dog is a great cuddle-buddy when I’m missing you.”</p><p>“You better save some of these cuddles for me when we see each other in April!” Lindsey winks at her girlfriend.</p><p>-</p><p>Lindsey surprises her girlfriend, their friends, and most of all herself when she does look into getting a dog. She ends up messaging a small hobby breeder who is a friend of a friend so she can support their small business. They have a young male French Bulldog who was supposed to get adopted by a family who doesn’t want him anymore. So, he needs a new home as of now.</p><p>She picks him up the next day. He is the smallest dog, seemingly just bigger than her hands, and very hyper at first. She soon learns that he tires out easily when he falls asleep in the car on the way to her apartment.</p><p>She waits for Emily to facetime her and answers the request with the newest addition to her household right next to her face. Her girlfriend actually starts to squeal at the sight. “Linds! You already got a dog! Who is that?”</p><p>“Em, meet Sir Ferguson Horan. Fergy, this is your other Mom, Emily.” She introduces.</p><p>“He’s so small. Oh my gosh, Lindsey, he’s so cute! I can’t believe you already got him, didn’t they say it takes some time?” Emily can’t stop cooing through the screen.</p><p>“They were kinda desperate to find a home for him, another family didn’t want him.” She shrugs. “Can he meet his big sister now?”</p><p>Bagel and Fergy are both a little confused by the other dog on the screen at first. Ferguson is not shy at all and is back to being hyper and woofs at the slightly older dog. But Bagel is as relaxed as ever and doesn’t let Ferguson’s barking rattle her.</p><p>Lindsey knows it was the right decision to get a dog as well when she leans back and watches how Emily interacts with both their dogs, trying to teach Fergy a trick through her phone screen.</p><p>Maybe they <em>can</em> get that bougy hipster-apartment at some point. Just with two dogs.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope everyone is safe and healthy!</p><p>Oh also, I'm in the mood to write but all out of ideas, if anyone has one, let me know in the comments!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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